The present invention concerns a floor panel.
Floor coverings exist in a large variety of embodiments. The floor panels which comprise the flooring may be tiles or boards made from plastic materials with a certain elasticity and flexibility. The installation can be performed using a floating technique (“loose lay”). The advantage is a simple, tidy installation. Furthermore, the flooring can easily be dismantled if need be, leaving no residues. This is an advantage over an installation method where the panels are bonded to the substrate.
The resultant flooring should be as level and even as possible, and the floor panels should be installed close to each other to achieve this. It is also desirable to prevent the loose laid floor panels from moving and shifting on top of the substrate in order to prevent the formation of joints into which dirt can penetrate. It is generally desirable that the floor panels lie flush on top of the substrate and, once installed, form a single entity with the latter, without a mechanical connection or adhesive bond being formed with the surface of the substrate. If need be, it should be possible and easy to replace individual panels without having to take apart large areas of the compound structure of the flooring.
Hence it is a task of this invention to develop a floor panel to form a flooring which, even when installed using a floating technique, forms a good connection with the substrate and creates an even compound structure which can easily be dismantled and permits easy replacement of individual panels.
This task is solved according to the invention by a floor panel with the features of the claims.